Relics of the Boston marathon

Boston

A United States flag and flowers, artifacts saved from the makeshift Boston Marathon bombing memorial, are seen at the Iron Mountain storage facility in Northborough, Mass.

Archivists in Boston used to handling documents ranging from budget records to minutes of city council meetings, along with an occasional file dating to the city's 17th-century founding, have spent the last year processing thousands of sneakers, T-shirts and letters.

All photos taken on March 28, 2014.

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

A soft toy, an artifact saved from the makeshift Boston Marathon bombing memorial, is seen at the Iron Mountain storage facility in Northborough, Mass., March 28, 2014.

These are the mementos left behind at an impromptu memorial built at the site of the 2013 bombing attack on the Boston Marathon, which killed three people and injured 264 at the race's crowded finish line.

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

A worker's helmet, an artifact saved from the makeshift Boston Marathon bombing memorial.

The makeshift shrine began in the days after the April 15 attack, as visitors and residents left tributes along the metal barricades erected by the police to fence off the site as they searched for clues about the bombers. Next week, several hundred of the items - including four wooden crosses memorializing the three who died in the blasts and a university police officer who was shot dead a few days later in a related incident - will be displayed at Copley Square, this time inside the library for an exhibit that will run from April 7-May 11 2014.

Boston

Boston

Boston

A box of artifacts saved from the makeshift Boston Marathon bombing memorial.

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

A statue

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

Archivist Marta Crilly holds a signed banner from Bagram Air Base, an artifact saved from the makeshift Boston Marathon bombing memorial.

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

Boxes of running shoes

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

Archivist Marta Crilly holds a patch from the M.I.T. police force.

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

A poster

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

A 2007 Boston Marathon jacket

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

A letter from China, sent following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

Archivist Marta Crilly holds a poster

Credit: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Boston

Curator Rainey Tisdale talks about some the artifacts, including running shoes, saved from the makeshift memorial.

Several hundred of the items - including four wooden crosses memorializing the three who died in the blasts and a university police officer who was shot dead a few days later in a related incident - will be displayed at Copley Square, for an exhibit that will run from April 7-May 11 2014.